Rumors
by Rhyska Nevar
Summary: Ronon's thoughts on the rumors circulating around Atlantis. He wonders why Kate Heightmeyer's name has never once come up.


**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything SGA. That pleasure belongs to someone--just not me. I'm just playing with the characters a bit, but I promise to return them later.

**Rumors…

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**She looked so beautiful…**creamy skin, hair like spun sunlight, and the clearest blue eyes he'd ever seen. From the moment he had first laid eyes on Dr. Kate Heightmeyer, Ronon thought she was quite attractive, but it wasn't her looks that held his attention. There were plenty of attractive women around Atlantis. No, what he found most interesting about Kate Heightmeyer was how she affected the people around her.

Every now and then, when the opportunity presented itself, Ronon would watch the people around him. He studied their mannerisms, the way they interacted with one another, and found that when they didn't know they were being watched, they were quite amusing--especially the scientists.

But Kate wasn't amusing. She was mystifying. Normally, he'd catch glimpses of her walking down the halls with Carson or Dr. Weir, but every once in awhile he'd see her in the mess hall.

She'd glide in and wait patiently in line for food with the rest of the masses. She'd smile, nod politely, greet people by name, and for reasons Ronon couldn't even begin to understand, people shied away from her. The voices in the mess hall would diminish in her proximity and when she came across a large group of people, they gave her wide berth as though she carried some great plague.

Ronon didn't particularly care for the rumor mill that spread stories about his team like wildfire throughout the city. Some of the rumors he'd heard from gate tech Chuck were completely outrageous.

On sleepless nights while he wandered silently down the halls memorizing every inch of Atlantis, he'd see people creeping into rooms that weren't assigned to them and shadows converge, becoming one in darkened halls and shadowy balconies. Sex didn't exactly run rampant in Atlantis, but it seemed most innuendos revolved around it. In times like these, he understood the need to feel alive—to relieve certain pressures.

Still, some of the rumors that flew around Atlantis had his head spinning. Teyla and Sheppard, Sheppard and Dr. Weir, Dr. Weir and Teyla, McKay and Teyla, Dr. Weir and McKay, and his personal favorite… Sheppard and McKay. Even his name was linked with both Teyla's and Dr. Weir's.

The entire base, or so it seemed, had decided that he had slept with every single female he came across. Not that he hadn't had offers, but that was beside the point.

While the Sheppard and Rodney rumors did crack a smile from him, the others Ronon simply shook off. _Honestly? What was it with these Earthlings?_

According to McKay it was sex on the brain. For once, Ronon was forced to agree. He only wished Sheppard _would_ get laid, then he might loosen up a little. Though he denied it, he was pretty sure McKay hadn't ever been with a woman.

And Teyla, well... Teyla was Teyla. She was beautiful, a warrior, a leader to her people, and a shining example for all. It was certainly not the Athosian way to wander from bed to bed and even less so for their leader. Though Ronon knew if Sheppard ever stopped being such a girl about whatever problems he left behind back on his home world, she just might bend that rule for him.

Dr. Weir was just like Teyla, only she used words the way Teyla used weapons and she seemed to have more problems. Forging alliances in the Pegasus galaxy, finding reliable trading partners to keep the city running, and then there was the constant search for ZPMs or advanced technology. Ronon snorted. _If it wasn't one thing, it was something else._

It was hard enough keeping the city protected from the Wraith, but Dr. Weir also had to guard it against the Genii, the Replicators, the Gou'ald, and the petty bureaucrats from her own home world. Ronon snorted with disgust. The very people who should be making her job easier—as if being the leader of Atlantis wasn't hard enough.

He'd never seen a woman so focused, or so tense. He highly doubted she was sneaking into anyone's room at night. She'd have to leave her office first. She would have to stop working and according to Sheppard, Dr. Weir never stopped working, or worrying. Ronon was certain the only fantasy she had lately was of her own bed and a night of dreamless, uninterrupted sleep.

There were other rumors milling about, from Dr. Beckett and Lt. Cadman to the notorious Dr. Kavanaugh. Strangely enough, Kate Heightmeyer's name never came up. Ronon hadn't ever heard a single rumor. It was almost as if they were all afraid of her.

Even now, he watched the people around her nervously edge away. Some of the guiltier individuals avoided her gaze. As soon as Kate collected her tray of food, she made a graceful exit out of the mess hall, presumably to her office. The second the doors closed behind her, the chattering in the mess hall rose back up to it's normal decibel level.

He nudged Sheppard and asked, "What's the difference was between Dr. Beckett and Dr. Heightmeyer?"

Sheppard looked away from the pretty tech who was making eyes at him and turned to the Satedan. "What was that about Beckett and Heightmeyer?"

"Carson practices voodoo, and Heightmeyer shrinks heads," Rodney stated. "Pay attention, Kirk."

The mental image Ronon had conjured was less than pleasant. "Shrunken heads?_" What the hell kind of medicine did these fool Earthlings practice?_

Sheppard made a face at McKay and corrected the scientist, "What Rodney means, is that Dr. Heightmeyer fixes minds the way Beckett fixes bodies."

Ronon had arched a dubious brow. "How?"

"Mostly through talking," Sheppard informed him between bites of his turkey sandwich.

"Talking?"

Sheppard nodded. "Yup, talking."

Ronon shook his head in disbelief. As far as he was concerned, no problem he had could be solved with words. The only problem solver he needed was his energy pistol, that had worked well enough so far.

Still, he couldn't understand why everyone avoided her the way they did. Women on Sateda that looked that good never remained unattached for long, regardless of what profession they chose. He wouldn't have thought being a mind healer would scare off the male population. She didn't even seem to have female friends.

In point fact, he couldn't ever recall Dr. Heightmeyer participating in anything outside of regular duties. She didn't use the gym with the other scientists, she didn't take self defense classes, she didn't even eat in the mess hall. As far as he knew, she didn't participate in the girl's night out events Laura Cadman often spoke of.

Ronon frowned as he realized she never really conversed much outside of her office. _Huh, for someone whose job was all about talking, she seemed to do very little of it._ Shaking his head, Ronon got back to his food. He didn't even know why he cared what Dr. Heightmeyer did or didn't do or who she didn't do it with. Still, he had to admit—she was interesting.

As McKay prattled on endlessly about some scientific theory or other, Ronon decided that the thing he liked most about Kate Heightmeyer was that she was quiet. Unlike some other people he knew…

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**A/N:** BiteMeTechie's First Sentence Challenge "**She looked so beautiful**…" Feel free to flame or praise as the mood suits you, constructive of course.


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